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His name is unrecognizable in many American basketball circles, not to mention unpronounceable.

Fans soon will become much better acquainted with Sarunas Jasikevicius, however, if he fulfills his dream of signing an NBA contract.

Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird, who no doubt sees much of himself in the 6-4, 29-year-old point guard, is among the league executives who have pursued Jasikevicius throughout Europe and wouldn't mind making him a household name in Indianapolis.

"I think he's the best player in Europe," Bird said. "He's one of the best competitors I've ever seen."

Bird has interest in several players as the NBA's free agency negotiation period opens today, and Jasikevicius (pronounced yes-uh-KA-vi-shus) is reported to have interest from about a half-dozen teams. Still, the two seem to be made for one another given their respective playing reputations.

Jasikevicius, a native of Lithuania, attended high school in Pennsylvania and played at the University of Maryland from 1994-98. He averaged 12.4 points as a senior and went undrafted.

He since has become a superstar in Europe. What happened in between?

He played out of position at Maryland. A natural point guard and leader, he was relegated to the wing. He has also improved greatly, negating his relative lack of athleticism with exceptional shooting and passing skills, confidence and passion.

After playing a season in Lithuania and another in Slovenia, he played three seasons in Barcelona. After helping Barcelona to the Euroleague championship in 2003, he led the Lithuanian national team to the European championship that summer.

Jasikevicius has played the past two seasons for the Maccabi team in Tel Aviv, Israel, leading it to two more Euroleague titles. He was named MVP of the tournament this year.

He averaged 15.7 points over 24 Euroleague games, shooting 48 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 94 percent from the foul line. He hit better than 50 percent of his 3-point shots in his past two years of regular-season play.

He has also excelled against U.S. teams in the Olympics. He scored 27 points for Lithuania in a near-upset in the 2000 Olympics and had 28 in a victory over the U.S. team last summer in Greece.

Pacers international scout Misho Ostarcevic said Jasikevicius has been ready to play in the NBA for two years.

"He's strong mentally and physically," Ostarcevic said. "He's not afraid to take the last shot. He runs the team. He's a very good passer and shooter. A decent defender. A team player and leader."

Jasikevicius' popularity is such that one fan has launched a Web site, www.jasikevicius.com, in his honor. After the final game of his previous season a video tribute was shown in which teammates and other local officials implored him to stay. He was presented a petition with 17,000 signatures.

Regardless, he is definite in his desire to play in the NBA next season.

"My general direction this summer is the NBA, and if I'll get an offer from a strong team, with a shot at the NBA title and the possibility for me to play meaningful minutes, I'll sign there," he told a Lithuanian newspaper earlier this week. "I know that nobody will guarantee me any playing time, but if I'll be good and prove myself, I'll play."

Portland, Utah, Dallas, Boston and Cleveland also are said to be in pursuit, but not all of them fit Jasikevicius' desire to play on a contender. The Pacers have only a portion of their mid-level exception to offer, which tempers Bird's confidence in landing him.

"There's some other teams after him, too," Bird said. "We don't have resources to make big offers to guys. Right now we're waiting to see what happens."

Another free agent option is former Duke and Chicago Bulls point guard Jay Williams. The second pick in the 2002 draft, Williams was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident after his rookie season and has not played since.

He has begun serious workouts again and the Bulls, who have restocked with young point guards, are reportedly planning to relinquish his rights. Williams' business manager, Kevin Bradbury, said the Pacers are among the teams who have shown interest. Bird, however, said he is more focused on players who can lend immediate help.

"If you're going to get somebody, you better get somebody you know can get some time right away," Bird said.

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

i have a feeling if this comes down to money....saras wont sign here...there are other teams, especially from the teams mentioned, that will be able to pay him more...

i think when the 3 year 10 million thing came out it was directed at the pacers and bird as much as anything....cant help but think they had hoped to get him for about half the mle which would equate to about 3 years and a little over 8 million.....

guess we might find out just how important competing for the title is....i have no doubt they can provide him with the minutes he wants playing both the pg and some sg.....and all the tinsley injury prone guys would say he would be able to start a fair amount of games as well...

should be interesting....i also think their are some issues where dale is concerned that probably play heavily where this is concerned....i just dont think playing for the vet min was part of the plan where dale was concerned....and i cant help but think they kinda had a gentlemens agreement for some part of the MLE...

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

DD is gonna be the X-factor in this, nothing else.

It is quite clear from all publication in EU and elsewhere that Saras and LB are very ready for each other, despite interest from others, the guy is not only in it for the money in this case, he is serious when saying a contending team, he doesn't need to come to the NBA for money, he can stay where he is and make approx 2 mio a year and more with sponsor contracts as his popularity is enormous.
He doesn't have to prove himself anymore in the euroleague, he's an MVP of that league, and with it comes the benefits, money for top players there is serious enough to make a lot not even consider coming to the states as benchplayers for league minimums or 3 yrs @ 2 mio deals, they are better of in Europe where they are heroes and making at least as much without risk of being 12th man.
The big question is how much will DD command, from what I've seen this year we must be honest to ourselves and conclude that besides 10 -12 minutes a game the season migh wear on him faster then we wold like, he looked very tired at the end,
If I was DD, which I'm not, I would mainly go for a 3 year contract or such at teh vet minimum, perhaps even 4 years with the option to retire with payment (like Reggie) that way I get twice the vet min if I only play for two more years and I can retire on a possible championship team, one I would dearly like to play for.
There are not many other teams that will be willing to spend a whole lot more on DD in my opinion, Det is no longer interested it seems and I can not really think of another team that would be willing and able to offer him more.

If we think along the lines of 10 mio for 3 years on a contending team, then most teams will drop at the "contender" stage, Cleveland aint there yet, maybe Boston, maybe Dallas, definitely not Utah. We wont even discuss Portland, as with their rep and state of afairs there is little likelyhood he would want to go there, despite playing time.
In this case it will be for DD and Saras a simple question, how serious are you in being on a contending team, if you are, you play for the Pacers, if it's money you want, then there are other teams to consider.

So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

If you've done 6 impossible things today?
Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

I dunno, Cleveland has a TON of cap space and they have LeBron. If this guy is as good as advertised...think of LeBron and Kidd teamed up. But I don't know how good he really is.

I have a question, make that two.....

How do you square the 2 articles? Bird wanting this guy and DW saying we ain't in the hunt for no FA's????

Back in the day you could sign all ya wanted, you just had to be at or under the cap by start of season. Is that still true? Or have they changed that? I know it would really stick you behind the 8-ball if you were blatantly over the cap and having to scurry to make trades in order to get down to the cap.

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

It is quite clear from all publication in EU and elsewhere that Saras and LB are very ready for each other, despite interest from others, the guy is not only in it for the money in this case, he is serious when saying a contending team, he doesn't need to come to the NBA for money, he can stay where he is and make approx 2 mio a year and more with sponsor contracts as his popularity is enormous.
He doesn't have to prove himself anymore in the euroleague, he's an MVP of that league, and with it comes the benefits, money for top players there is serious enough to make a lot not even consider coming to the states as benchplayers for league minimums or 3 yrs @ 2 mio deals, they are better of in Europe where they are heroes and making at least as much without risk of being 12th man.
The big question is how much will DD command, from what I've seen this year we must be honest to ourselves and conclude that besides 10 -12 minutes a game the season migh wear on him faster then we wold like, he looked very tired at the end,
If I was DD, which I'm not, I would mainly go for a 3 year contract or such at teh vet minimum, perhaps even 4 years with the option to retire with payment (like Reggie) that way I get twice the vet min if I only play for two more years and I can retire on a possible championship team, one I would dearly like to play for.
There are not many other teams that will be willing to spend a whole lot more on DD in my opinion, Det is no longer interested it seems and I can not really think of another team that would be willing and able to offer him more.

If we think along the lines of 10 mio for 3 years on a contending team, then most teams will drop at the "contender" stage, Cleveland aint there yet, maybe Boston, maybe Dallas, definitely not Utah. We wont even discuss Portland, as with their rep and state of afairs there is little likelyhood he would want to go there, despite playing time.
In this case it will be for DD and Saras a simple question, how serious are you in being on a contending team, if you are, you play for the Pacers, if it's money you want, then there are other teams to consider.

i absolutely agree with u on all this....as is usually the case....

the big question is will dd settle for that...im not sure he couldnt get a bit more....i think a team like boston would love to have his veteran leadership and big body...and i think there will be a few more teams that would be interested in him....

but i really do think the pacers gave him a pretty good idea of what to expect from them n the way of contract and money wise when he resigned here towards the latter part of the season....

and my concern is that it is more than than would now allow them to sign sarunas at the 10 million hes looking for....

in which case it could get very interesting....

what i see is a whole lot of posturing by everyone....

dd's agent saying indiana is where he wants to be, but he will have other offers....

larry saying it will kind of be up to sarunas as he will have many offers...

and sarunas' agent putting the 10 million for 3 years out there...

lots of posturing....

i guess the real question is like u said...can they find a way to get both sarunas and dale here together....if so..and lets hope they can....then great....

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

Since they have the mid level exception each year part of it has to be promised to Dale.

The mid level will be about 5 - 5 1/2 million. If they could give Sarunas his ten million for three years. And if they could do as Able said and give Dale a longer contract for less money then they could handle it.

We know Dale gets upset about money so I think he's the key.

It's like was said, is it the money or the chance to play for a title?

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

*I cannot believe I am about to commit this heresy but...*

Really, just how important is re-signing DD to this team? THe Artest backers will point out that we were darn good before the brawl. THen came the suspensions and injuries. Perhaps the stars and moon aligned just perfectly that DD was the perfect fit at the right time. We saw how he wore down by the PO's. Just how much does this team really need him? Is signing him going to prevent signing this kid? How good is this kid....the videos look real promising. But with teams out there with TONS of capspace we may not stand much of a chance.

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

I hope we get him just so I can hear Slick say "Sarunas Jasikevicius". And since that won't work, I wonder what he'll call him? We've got Jeffy, Austie, Freddie, Ronnie, Scottie, Jonny, Eddie, Davie, Danny and maybe Jimmy and Johnny. Sarry?

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

I think there is one thing you guys have overlooked.

There were a handful of teams in the running for Dale’s services. The primary teams though were Indiana, and unfortunately, the Detroit Pistons.

I have no idea what Detroit might be planning for their mid-level exception, but it is possible that they might be willing to give a greater share of it to Dale. And, they could definitely be postured to do so, especially if we split off part of ours to give to “Saras”.

Detroit is in the business of getting back to the finals, just like Miami and the Pacers. Knowing what DD meant to the Pacers in the last 38 games or so, I don’t see Detroit just sitting back and watching us get Dale cheap, especially when Dale would step right in and be a viable number 4 big man for them, after Ben, Rasheed and McDeyess.

What I'm saying is the Pacers have to be very careful about who they sign and when they sign them, and how much we sign them for, or we will end up screwing ourselves.

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

I hope we get him just so I can hear Slick say "Sarunas Jasikevicius". And since that won't work, I wonder what he'll call him? We've got Jeffy, Austie, Freddie, Ronnie, Scottie, Jonny, Eddie, Davie, Danny and maybe Jimmy and Johnny. Sarry?

Re: Pacers looking to Europe for help

I hope we get him just so I can hear Slick say "Sarunas Jasikevicius". And since that won't work, I wonder what he'll call him? We've got Jeffy, Austie, Freddie, Ronnie, Scottie, Jonny, Eddie, Davie, Danny and maybe Jimmy and Johnny. Sarry?